Mike Griffith: The pluses of choosing O'Dette as new coach
| Thursday, Jul 07 2011 09:24 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jul 07 2011 10:50 PM
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Phil Paquet of the condors skates past an Ontario opponent on the way to the net during a game last season.
The Condors remain mum on who might be their next coach, but the fans have spoken.
Last week, the Condors announced three finalists for the job to replace long-time coach Marty Raymond: Malcolm Cameron, Matt O'Dette and John Wroblewski. Those three names, along with Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez's character in the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks) and Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman's character in the 1977 film Slap Shot) are listed for voting the fan poll at bakersfieldcondors.com.
As of Thursday afternoon, Wroblewski (150 votes, 38.8 percent) was the runaway leader followed by O'Dette (91 votes, 23.6 percent) -- both of whom have no head coaching experience. The movie coaches took the next two slots with Bombay edging out Dunlop by three votes (a travesty if there ever was one.) Cameron, the only head coach with real-life experience (618 games with multiple teams) came in dead last at 6.7 percent.
It's all fun in games in a poll like that, but for the Condors there is a serious decision to be made.
The choice comes down to two youngsters looking for their first head coaching gig or a veteran coach with a wealth of experience at the AA-level of hockey.
No doubt there are a host of factors that go into making a decision like this, many that fans and media are not privy to.
But it is clear to those who voted in the fan poll (and I'm sure many of them voted repeatedly) have spoken: they want fresh blood.
I agree, although I think O'Dette might be a better fit that Wroblewski.
Wroblewski played for the Fresno Falcons for four seasons ending in 2007, before getting into coaching in the United States Developmental Program. He was was an assistant coach for that team in 2009-10 and served as an assistant for the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL last season.
O'Dette also played for the Falcons as well as the Stockton Thunder before transitioning into coaching, first as a player/assistant for the Thunder in for 2009-10 and then as an assistant all of last season.
A big (6-foot-five, 228 pounds) defenseman, O'Dette might be seen as more of an "enemy" but Condors fans as certainly had his tiffs with many a Condor over the past few seasons.
But I see that as a plus.
O'Dette has played or coached on the West Coast since 2004 and has seen how the league has evolved over the past seven seasons. He is very familiar with the style of play out West and the players. Having seen the Condors multiple times last season, he will have a good idea of what players he would like to have back, giving him an edge over the other two finalists in that area.
The fact that he has played under and assisted for Matt Thomas, a coach who relishes hard-hitting physical hockey, for years is also a plus. O'Dette knows full well the intense rivalry Bakersfield had with Fresno before the Falcons folded and the subsequent rivalry with Stockton. Plus, O'Dette also has done a lot of recruiting work for Thomas the past couple of seasons, a key for teams at this level.
Cameron certainly has experience on his side and has won 40 or more games with three different ECHL teams -- Long Beach (2004-05), Texas (2006-07) and Florida (2008-09). He parted ways with Florida after losing in the second-round of the playoffs in two straight seasons and landed in Elmira last season where he was replaced three-quarters of the way into the season.
It is a big decision for Condors owner Jonathan Fleisig and team president Matthew Riley (who may well have already made their decision but are just not announcing it yet).
The Condors have never made it out of the second round of the playoffs, but Raymond has set the bar high -- back-to-back division titles and 38 or more regular-season wins in five of the last seven seasons.
A new era is about to begin for the Condors.
Bring on the new coach, whoever it is.
